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He told BBC Radio Scotland: "Some years ago we surveyed over 1,000 drug addicts in Scotland and asked them what they wanted to get from treatment, and less than five per cent said they wanted help to inject more safely and the overall majority said they wanted help to become drug-free.

"These facilities have a role to play but there is a real danger that we're moving steadily away from a commitment for services to get addicts off drugs."

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Glasgow Central SNP MP Alison Thewliss welcomed the move towards the supervised unit, saying she sees "no other option", having witnessed people injecting in public near her office.

She said: "Research has shown that safe injecting facilities save lives, move drug injecting off the street and open up a vital dialogue between services and drug users. Safe injecting facilities can rapidly reduce the rate of deaths from overdose, which must be at the forefront of our minds."

Glasgow Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins said: "This concept will not sit easily with many people, particularly those who think we should be making it more difficult for addicts to source drugs, rather than facilitate it. Some will believe this is merely waving the white flag in the face of the war on drugs.

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"But what's key now, if this does go ahead, is that there is irrefutable proof within a year that the scheme is saving lives, and reducing the number of people dependent on heroin in Glasgow. If not, it has to be abandoned at once."

The unit would provide the medically-supervised injection and inhalation of drugs and aims to tackle drug-related deaths, the spread of infections among users and the amount of needles and injecting equipment left in public areas.

It will involve NHS staff but the location of the centre and its cost are still to be established.